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What does Taiwan’s traditional cultures look like in your memory? Since there are old temples around, Lukang is viewed as a unique historic town laden with religious practices. Nowadays, the influence of religious cultures does not wane at all, but the related incense industry has declined with time primarily because low-quality incenses are imported to Taiwan and because machines replace the workforce.
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From the interview, Incense Master Ming-chong Huang indicated that ill-quality incense sticks may contain lime; the ashes after burning the incense are of high temperature and do not come off easily. “On the contrary, high-quality incense sticks produce ashes of mild temperature that come off easily.”, explained Mr. Huang with his hands fanning out the bamboo sticks to be coated with sandalwood powder. |
| The bamboo for making incense sticks is obtained from Zhu-shan in Nantou County in Taiwan. Considering the high cost, now 80% of the bamboo is imported from China. As for the natural adhesive—the bark powder of Phoebe zhennan, since this tree species become threatened in Taiwan, most zhennan trees for making incense sticks are obtained from Indonesia and Vietnam. Recently some dishonest businessmen have opted for cheap synthetic adhesives in lieu of natural counterparts (bark powder made). Doing so affects the quality of incense sticks. |
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Incense Master Ming-chong Huang was concentrating on the manufacture of incense sticks, rolling over the bamboo sticks to be evenly coated with sandalwood powder. Mr. Huang’s serious attitude in making the incense sticks is the paramount reverence to the incense industry as well as the environment. |
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